savar collapse - Dhaka Mirror

Bangladesh worker deaths may change US buying habit: Harris Poll

Admin — Thu, 23 May 2013 05:11:55 +0000

About 70 per cent of Americans have heard of the Rana Plaza collapse in Savar that killed over a 1,000 people, and for some it means they will probably buy fewer goods made in Bangladesh, according to a US poll report. Among those who learned of the deaths, 39 per cent said they would probably buy fewer products produced in Bangladesh, said a survey conducted by Harris Poll, an American marketing research company.
The report published at Bloomberg on Tuesday said that women are more likely to change shopping habits than men, 42 per cent to 34 per cent, the poll shows.
A group of retailers comprising mostly European chains, including Hennes & Mauritz AB and Inditex SA, pledged $60 million over five years to increase monitoring of conditions.
The eight-story Rana Plaza that housed four garment factories, collapsed on April 24, killing at least 1,127 people. As rescuers searched for survivors in the following weeks the rising death toll brought increased media coverage. The incident, which is one of the world’s deadliest industrial accidents, has prompted more calls for reform in Bangladesh after a fire in an apparel factory there killed 112 people in November.
Apparel accounts for 80 per cent of the country’s exports and employs about 3.4 million people. As wages rose in other apparel-producing countries such as China, companies have turned to the cheaper labor in Bangladesh.
Since the collapse, companies that buy clothes made by factories in Bangladesh have announced plans to improve safety. A group of retailers comprising mostly European chains, including Hennes & Mauritz AB (HMB) and Inditex SA (ITX), pledged $60 million over five years to increase monitoring of conditions. 0Several U.S. chains, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Gap Inc., didn’t sign the agreement. Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, will instead make public the safety inspections of its 279 authorized suppliers in Bangladesh that are to be completed in the next six months. Gap has said it is “ready to sign,” pending a change to the provision regarding binding arbitration.
Workers there have also been protesting as they demand higher wages. The government has said it’s considering raising the minimum wage of about $39 a month.
The survey asked respondents if they looked at labels to find out where a garment was made before purchasing, and 44 per cent said they did.
Americans older than 55 had the highest probability to do so at 53 per cent. And while just 49 per cent of respondents aged 18 to 34 had heard of the collapse, 86 per cent of those aged 55 of higher knew.

-With The Independent input

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Two more bodies found, death toll reaches 389

Admin — Wed, 01 May 2013 06:05:40 +0000

Two more bodies were recovered from the debris of the collapsed eight-storey Rana Plaza building in Savar on Tuesday morning. With this, the death toll rose to 389, Dhaka district deputy commissioner Md Yusuf Harun said. Nearly 111 hours after the Rana Plaza had collapsed, the second phase of the rescue operation using heavy equipment started at 12:10 am on Monday. Nearly 2,435 people have been rescued so far, and the search for survivors is still going on, Harun said.
So far, 343 bodies have been handed over to the victims’ families. Of those rescued, one died at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) on Tuesday, executive magistrate Shamima Shanti said. She also said that there were 23 dead bodies at the DMCH morgue and 22 bodies at the Sir Salimullah Medical College Hospital morgue.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday reiterated that her government would take necessary steps for rehabilitation of the families of the garment workers who were killed and injured in the Savar building collapse. She was speaking to the leaders of Peshajibi Shomonnoy Parishad at her office.
Hasan Suhrawardy, co-ordinator of the rescue team, at a press briefing said, “We heard that some 3,200 persons used to work in the building. Some might not have come to duty on April 24 due to hartal.”
Brig. Gen. Ajmal Kabir, head of the engineering brigade of the Bangladesh Army and supervisor of the second phase of the rescue operation, said that the operation’s second phase had started on Monday night and it would continue till the entire operation is over.
“We’re using cranes and cutting huge slabs from the top and lifting those to ensure that no secondary collapse occurs in the building, as that could be fatal,” he added. \Brig Gen He observed that the operation’s second phase would take more time.
Relatives of the missing people burst into tears when the manual rescue operation in the collapsed building came to a halt. Although heavy equipment were pressed into service for 20 hours now, about 1,000 people are still missing.
The High Court has ordered the authorities concerned to confiscate all the movable and immovable properties of the owners of Rana Plaza and the five readymade garments.
The owners are Sohel Rana, owner of the collapsed building, Baslus Samad Adnan, owner of New Web Bottoms and Mahmudur Rahman Tapos, owner of New Web Style, M Aminul Islam, owner of Phantom Apparels of Rana Plaza, and Md Anisur Rahman, owner of Ether Textile Limited.
Relatives of the missing people on Monday demonstrated at the site for the lack of information about their loved ones. They also chanted slogans against the Bangladesh Army which has been leading the rescue operation since the eight-storey commercial block was reduced to rubble on April 24.
Police charged batons to disperse the demonstrators even as the rescue operation was on.
Armed with sticks, the demonstrators were seen chanting slogans since morning, demanding death penalty for Sohel Rana. Rana is allegedly a leader of Jubo League, the youth wing of the ruling Awami League.
The demonstrators went on a rampage, damaging vehicles on the highway. Hundreds of vehicles near the Savar Bus Stand were damaged. This disrupted the traffic on the busy Dhaka-Aricha Highway.
Defending the police crackdown, assistant Superintendent of Dhaka Police, Moshiuddoula Reza, said, “The demonstrators were not garments workers. We moved in as they were trying to hamper rescue efforts.”
Communications minister Obaidul Quader said the trial of those responsible for the disaster would have to be completed quickly, if necessary through the Speedy Trial Tribunal. “It’s another type of crimes against humanity. Persons responsible will have to be tried as soon as possible. If necessary, they’ll have to be tried under the speedy trial tribunal,” he told reporters while visiting the disaster site in Savar.
Quader said the government is determined to ensure exemplary punishment to those responsible for the disaster. “The key person behind the disaster has already been arrested. We won’t consider his party affiliation. We’ll treat him as a criminal.”

-With The Independent input

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Savar death toll touches 397, four rescued on 5th day

Admin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 05:48:23 +0000

Rescue operations in Rana Plaza at Savar continued for the fifth day on Sunday as rescuers found some survivors inside the nine-storey building that collapsed on Wednesday morning. The death toll in the tragedy rose to 397 on Sunday evening. In total, 2,437 people were rescued so far from the building, including the four, who managed to survive battling death for the last five days. The rescuers confirmed the existence of five survivors inside the building and till the filing of the report frantic efforts were on to rescue them.
According to control room sources, 351 bodies were handed over to the victims’ families. Four victims, trapped under the debris, were pulled out alive after 100 hours by 12:30 pm on Sunday.
The survivors were rescued from the third floor of the building. Rescuers have come up with a list of 761 people who are still missing in the worst building collapse of the country.
The list has been made as per information given by the relatives of those who used to work inside the Rana Plaza, Savar Model Police Station inspector (Investigation) Aminur Rahman said.
“We have put the names on the list after checking the identity cards and photos of those missing until 12am on Saturday,” he added. Though time is running out fast, the hope for saving lives is still burning bright in the eyes of the rescuers.
It was 2:30 am on Sunday. At the south-eastern part on the seventh floor of the tattered site, where all the eight floors collapsed one over another and were sandwiched, hundreds of people set their eyes on the young volunteers who frequently went down the tiny drilled out holes in search of survivors.
The rescuers confirmed they found some workers who were still alive in two groups of two and four. Though there was a plan to engage heavy equipment, including bulldozers and derricks in the rescue operation, the idea was dropped after strong protests from the relatives of the missing workers who argued that the survivors might be affected due to the move.
Some army personnel began to announce with mikes that the front portion of the building needs to be freed of people and vehicles to make way for the bulldozers. “The building will be pulled apart soon,” the announcement came.
But the relatives of the victims did not approve the move at all. Brigadier General Siddiqul Alam Sikder, who is supervising the rescue mission, assured the kin of the victims that the site would not be bulldozed as long as a single survivor is there.
Earlier in the morning, the Rescue Operation Coordination Committee decided to start operations using heavy equipment to rescue those still trapped inside the collapsed eight-storey building. “We’ve decided to use heavy equipment, including hydraulic cranes, to rescue the trapped people,” Major General Hasan Chowdhury Suhrawardi, chairman of the Rescue Operation Coordination Committee and also the GOC of 9th Infantry Division, said while briefing the media in front of the collapsed building.
He said, “We’ve stopped manual rescue operation and the rescuers have already been removed from inside the collapsed building. We’ll be able to rescue the people who are alive using hydraulic cranes.”
Such rescue operations are carried out in three phases – first manually rescuing people and then removing the debris in the last two phases.
“Until now, we prioritised the safety of those alive and trapped inside. We were on the first phase. But now, the manual method is proving a bit tough. That is why we are turning to use of technology.”
Representatives of the various bodies involved in the rescue operations said now there was a risk to continue manual operations after four days, he said.
“We have agreed to use equipment for the first phase of operations now. The use has to be careful. This will speed up work and ensure the safety of those alive. There is no other option without equipment now,” he added.
He, however, added that the rescuers would now enter the rubbles on crane boxes creating boreholes from the top and pull out the survivors as it appeared impossible to penetrate the concrete ruins manually using rod cutters and hand saws.
‘But the rescuers will select calculated sites for boreholes cautiously and enter inside so that the survivors or their own lives are not endangered,” he said.
At the press conference, Suhrawardy said there were nine more survivors on the third floor of the building. Heavy machines will be deployed after they are rescued.
Suhrawardi said, “Patriotism, courage, personal efficiency and physical effort were the key tools of rescue in the last four days and now we want to use heavy machines as it is not possible to reach to the trapped people manually.”
The rescuers also rescued 30 people alive from the rubbles of the building in the past 24 hours, he added.
Of the injured, some died and others were discharged after being administered first aid, he said.

-With The Independent input

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PM visits Savar victims in hospitals

Admin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 05:43:58 +0000

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited the Orthopedic Hospital here today (Sunday) to enquire about the condition of the Rana Plaza building collapse victims undergoing treatment at the hospital. She talked to the injured persons and the doctors of the hospital. Hasina directed the doctors and others concerned to ensure complete treatment of the 48 victims of the Savar Rana Plaza victims.
She donated Tk 10,000 and a saree/lungi to each victim of the Savar tragedy, now under treatment at the Orthopedic Hospital.
The prime minister also assured that the government would take all necessary steps to complete the treatment of the injured persons.
Health and Family Welfare Minister AFM Ruhal Haque accompanied the Prime Minister during her visit to the hospital. The PM is also scheduled to visit Suhrawardy Hospital and Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

-With The Independent input

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Demo in front of BGMEA for trial of culprits of Savar tragedy

Admin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 05:36:53 +0000

Members of different professional groups, including teachers and students staged a demonstration in front of the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturing and Exporters Association (BGMEA) building pressing demands for the trial of the Rana Plaza owner and the owners of the factories in the building that collapsed in Savar on Wednesday killing over 300 workers. They also demanded of the BGMEA to pay Tk 50 lakh for each of the deceased garments workers, taking responsibility for treatment of the injured workers and giving Tk 30 lakh to each of them and providing them with opportunities to participate in the trade union.
Professor Dr Akmal Hossain, International Relations of Dhaka University, professor Anu Mohammad, professor of Jahangirnagar University were present among others who participated in the demonstration.
Speaking on the occasion Professor Anu Mohammad said, the owner of the Rana Plaza during the BNP and Awami League governments grabbed the property of a member of the minority community and raised the infamous Rana Plaza that housed the garments factories in Savar, leading to the tragedy.
Dr Akmal Hossain said those who are accused of mass murder should be brought to justice by a mass movement.
Among others Dr Zahid Hossain Mahmud, professor Tanjim Uddin Khan of department of international relations of the Dhaka University spoke on the occasion.

-With The Independent input

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Savar death toll crosses 350; many still trapped

Admin — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 10:06:02 +0000

After the passage of 80 hours since the tragic collapse of the 8-storey Savar building that housed nearly 5,000 workers of five garment factories, rescuers, on Saturday, were able to rescue 26 people, thus negating the perception that no one would be able to survive for 72 hours inside the debris. Besides, some of those rescued on Saturday said that there were still many survivors who were battling against death, inside the ill-fated building, which crumbled on Wednesday, killing 355 people till Saturday evening. The rescuers said that the death toll could rise. as many dead bodies could not be recovered immediately.
On Saturday, the rescuers made a breakthrough by reaching to the ground floor by cutting concrete floors. They identified some 351 bodies which they handed over to the victims’ relatives, till 3:45pm on Saturday.
Till Saturday morning, some 2,507 people were rescued from the debris of the collapsed Rana Plaza.
The rescue work was hampered for 20-25 minutes due to sudden rain that started around 1:16 pm.
“We must salute those common people who dared to enter the wreckage to rescue the victims, as even our professionals didn’t dare the risk,” Mizanur Rahman, deputy director of the fire service, told Reuters.
Nilufer Yasmin, a worker, told of her ordeal inside the broken building for three days.
“It felt like I was in hell,” she told reporters from her hospital bed. “It was so hot; I could hardly breathe. There was no food and water. When I regained my senses, I found myself in this hospital bed.”
However in an emergency meeting the Rescue team decided to take a pause in the rescue operation at 6 am on Sunday.
“The team members along with media personnel will visit the building to make an assessment whether there was any survivor. If there would be a survivor the rescue operation would continue,” said an official of the ISPR.
Several private companies including Beximco Pharmaceuticals, Reneta, Ajmat Group provided medicines and oxygen cylinder for the victims.
Emdadul Islam, chief engineer of the state-run Capital Development Authority (CDA), said the owner of the building had not received the proper building consent, obtaining a permit for a five-storey building from the local municipality, which did not have the authority to grant it.
“Only CDA can give such approval,” he said. “We are trying to get the original design from the municipality, but, since the official concerned is hiding, we cannot get it readily.”
Furthermore, another three storeys had been added illegally, he said. “Savar is not an industrial zone, and for that reason no factory can be housed in Rana Plaza,” Islam told Reuters.
Islam said the building had been erected on the site of a pond filled in with sand and earth, which meant its foundations were too weak. “There were three big and very heavy generators that shook the whole building when they were operating. On that day, the generators were being used and within seconds, the building collapsed,” Islam said.
Though some sophisticated and heavy equipment were brought to the site on Saturday, for the first time after the incident, they were not used. “If we use the heavy equipment, people who are still alive inside the debris might be in danger,” an official of the rescue team said.
Meanwhile, Mitu Akhter, wife of Sohel Rana, the owner of the collapsed Rana Plaza, was detained, while two garment factory owners were arrested early on Saturday.
Asaduzzaman, officer-in-charge (OC) of Savar police station, said that they detained Mitu Akhter, 25, from her father’s house at Shahibagh, around 1 am, for interrogation.
The Detective Branch (DB) of the Dhaka district police arrested the two garment factory owners—Bazlus Samad Adnan, 45, chairman of New Wave Buttons and New Wave Style, and Mahmudur Rahman Tapas, managing director of the two garment units—from the city’s Ramna area.
At a press conference at the PID, disaster management and relief minister Abul Hasan Mahmud Ali described the collapse of Rana Plaza as “man-made”.
“It’s a man-made disaster, but we are happy with the rescue operations,” he said.
“There is great coordination among the rescuers. As many as 328 bodies have been recovered as of 11 am today, while a total of 2,413 people have been rescued so far,” the minister said on Saturday.
Ali also requested the public not to throng the site in large numbers as that would create problems in the rescue work.
Visiting the site, state minister for home Shamsul Haque Tuku said, on Saturday, that the government was leaving no stone unturned to capture Sohel Rana, owner of the collapsed Rana Plaza in Savar.
Reuters add: On Saturday, Canada’s Loblaw, a unit of George Weston Ltd and which had a small number of “Joe Fresh” apparel items made at one of the factories, said it was working with other retailers to provide aid and support.
It said it was sending representatives to Bangladesh and was also joining what it described as an urgent meeting with other retailers and the Retail Council of Canada.

-With The Independent input

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Irate RMG workers clash in Dhaka, Chittagong

Admin — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 10:05:08 +0000

Thousands of irate readymade garments (RMG) workers went berserk and clashed with law enforcement personnel in the capital, Savar, and in the port city of Chittagong, on Saturday.
Five people sustained bullet injuries and some 20 others were wounded, when police fired shots on agitating garment workers, near Rana Plaza at Savar, in the morning.
The police said the trouble started at Bank Town near Rana Plaza around 9.30am, when a group of RMG workers, angered by the slow rescue operations in the building that had collapsed, tried to break through the police cordon. Later, the law enforcement personnel fired some 50 rounds of rubber bullets and lobbed 20 teargas canisters to disperse them, injuring the five.
Four of those injured—Shahid, Murad, Yakub Ali and Johnny—were admitted to Enam Medical College and Hospital, in critical condition. Another was rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. The fifth injured person has not been identified yet.
Security on the Rana Plaza compound has been beefed up following the incident, police said.
Unruly workers also blocked Mirpur Road for two hours in the morning, but were dispersed later.
In Chittagong, garment workers staged a demonstration protesting against the collapse of Rana Plaza in Savar, and demanding the death penalty for the owner of the building.
During the demonstration, the garment workers set ablaze three covered vans and blockaded the city’s Airport Road for hours. They also brought out processions from different industrial areas of the city, in protest against the tragic incident and demanded safe working places.
Several hundred workers brought out a procession from the city’s Oxygen area, at about 9 am, to protest against the tragedy. At one stage, some angry workers set fire to three covered vans belonging to Abul Khair group near Chittagong Cantonment Public School and College. Fire brigade men rushed to the spot and succeeded in dousing the fire, before the vehicles were completely burnt.
Additional law enforcement agency members rushed to the area and brought the situation under control.
Besides, hundreds of workers took to the streets in the city’s Chittagong and Karnaphuli EPZ areas in the morning, and started converging on the Chittagong EPZ intersection. At one stage, the garments workers put up barricades, thereby disrupting vehicular movement on the city’s Airport Road.
High-ranking police officials rushed to the EPZ intersection and persuaded the irate workers to withdraw the road barricades at 11 am.
The garments workers also brought out protest processions from the city’s Kalurghat BSCIC industrial area, Agrabad, Terry Bazaar, Jamal Khan, Sadorghat and Olonkar areas.
On the other hand, Industrial Police (IP) have taken extensive preventive measures to check any sort of unrest in the readymade garments (RMG) sector in Chittagong, as a fallout of the Rana Plaza tragedy.

-With The Independent input

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BNP sees govt plot to save Savar accused

Admin — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 09:52:46 +0000

BNP, on Saturday, accused the government of plotting to help Sohel Rana, owner of the collapsed building at Savar, to flee the country. “The government is hatching a plan to save Rana. Awami League is trying to shift the people’s attention on this, by holding the opposition party responsible for the tragedy that claimed over 300 lives,” BNP standing committee member Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain said.
He was addressing a programme to demand the immediate release of detained BNP leaders. The programme was organised by Jehad Parishad, at the National Press Club.
He warned the government against shifting the blame on the opposition. “Instead, the ruling Awami League must act immediately to book the people responsible for the tragedy immediately,” he added.
Mosharraf alleged that Rana was an influential leader of the ruling party’s youth front, in the area, and, therefore, his business establishment was not declared vulnerable, despite having a cracked wall. “As a result of the government’s negligence, poor and innocent ready made garments (RMG) workers were killed,” he said.
The BNP leader said the arrest of Rana’s relatives was just eyewash. “The ruling Awami League is staging a drama in the name of arrests,” he alleged.
After the tragedy, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had assured Parliament that Rana was not involved with her party’s youth front. Besides, home minister MK Alamgir had held BNP responsible for the tragedy.
“The government is deflecting the blame in another direction, by cooking up different stories,” he alleged.
Reiterating the opposition’s demand for a caretaker government (CG), to monitor the election, the BNP leader said the government’s stubbornness on the issue had triggered the present political crisis. “The country’s political arena will not be calmed till the government restored the CG provision in the Constitution. We urge the Awami League government to do so for the sake of holding the next general elections in a free and fair manner,” he added.
In a separate rally in front of BNP’s Naya Paltan central office, Mosharraf accused the government of trying to brush the Savar tragedy under the carpet, like the BDR carnage.
“Sheikh Hasina and her ministers are engaged in a blame game, with a view to conceal the real facts in the Savar tragedy. The government had adopted a similar strategy during the BDR carnage at Pilkhana, in 2009,” he said.
Referring to statements by victims, he said the RMG workers were forced to take part in work on Wednesday, despite the appearance of a crack on the wall of Rana Plaza. “Who forced them inside, and for what purpose? The Premier must answer these questions before the nation,” he said.
The rally was organised to demand the release of detained BNP leaders, holding of the next general election under a non-party CG oversight, and punishment for those responsible for the Savar tragedy.
The BNP leader alleged the government’s wrongdoing has destroyed the country’s political stability. “The situation became worse after the CG provision was expunged from the Constitution. The Awami League will be held responsible if the country plunges into a fresh crisis over the CG issue,” he added.
BNP leaders Moudud Ahmed, Shamsuzzaman Dudu and Barkat Ullah Bulu were among those who spoke at the rally. BNP vice-chairman Sadeque Hossain Khoka chaired the rally.
In a separate programme, BNP leader MK Anwar accused the PM of sedition for her “false statements” in Parliament, by denying Rana’s links with her party.
“Parliament is a holy place for a nation. But, the holiness of our Parliament has been tarnished as our Premier has made untruthful statements. This is blatantly seditious,” he said.
Anwar was addressing a programme organised by Rajshahi University Nationalist Student Association, at Bhasani auditorium in the city.
The BNP leader said the media had exposed Rana’s links with Awami League leaders, even as the PM continued to deny this. “Awami League was plotting to save Rana by hiding him in a safe place under the government’s management,” he added.
Anwar criticised the government for not extending necessary equipment to accelerate the salvage operations at the site of the collapsed Rana Plaza, and said it was the government’s failure as it did nothing to protect the lives of poor RMG workers.

-With The Independent input

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Hopes fade for finding alive the missing

Admin — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 09:51:54 +0000

As the rescue operation continues for more trapped victims of Savar tragedy from the rubble of infamous Rana Plaza, hopes fade for finding them still alive.
Till Saturday – the fourth day since the eight-storey Rana Plaza on the outskirts of Savar collapsed – over 1,000 people were still missing, according to several reports compiled by The Independent. However, none of the government officials and voluntary organizations who have been working for the last four days at the site of the destroyed plaza in Savar could give an actual number of the missing.
Multiple local sources told The Independent correspondent that some 4,500 people were working at five garment factories housed on different levels of the plaza and other stores when tragedy struck on Wednesday morning.
About 2,500 people were rescued alive primarily with the help of Bangladesh military up until Saturday while 365 bodies were recovered and of them 313 bodies were handed over to their relatives, a makeshift control room sources said.
Shamsul Alam, 32, hailing from Kumarkhali Upazila of Kushtia district was working at the Rana Plaza on Wednesday morning. He has a young wife and son. He is still missing, said an official of a voluntary organization working in Savar.
“We will contact the widow and provide her some basic training so that the young lady can stand on her own feet, take care of her baby and rebuild her life,” said the official whose organization is compiling a list of the victims’ families needing urgent help. Thousands of people whose sons or daughters or brothers or sisters were working at the Rana Plaza on Wednesday morning and are still missing are continuing to crowd the site of the plaza everyday where the rescue operation is going on day and night.
Meanwhile, a social service organization called Sajida Foundation prepared a list of at least 200 victims who were the lone earning members of their families. Either they all perished in the accident or have been missing.
A team of 15 employees from our organization is now working in Savar and enlisting the missing victims who were the only earning members of their respective families, said Zahida Fizza Kabir, executive director of the foundation.
“At this time we are collecting their information and after verifying the list of those victims, we will provide both short and long-term assistance to poor families facing financial hardship due to death of their only earning members,” she said. Showing their list, an official of Sajida Foundation said Sirin Akhtar, 25 and her husband Akkas Ali, 30 hailing from Mojompur village of Mymensingh district,were working at Rana Plaza and are still missing. “They have one son and one daughter. Who will take care of the kids? We will,” he said in an emotion-choked voice.
Rita Akter, 21, came all the way from Zianpur village of Doulotpur Upazila of Maniganj to work at an apparel factory at the Rana Plaza. She was unmarried and feeding a family of six including her ailing father, The Sajid Foundation official further said.

-With The Independent input

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Where is Sohel Rana?

Admin — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 09:50:51 +0000

Even after three days of the collapse of Rana Plaza, law enforcement agencies are still in the dark about the whereabouts of its owner, Sohel Rana. There are rumours that Rana, who is an influential Jubo League leader in the Savar area, has already escaped to India. The Prime Minister, on Thursday, asked the law enforcers to take all-out efforts to nab Rana.Home minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, on Saturday, said that a ban has been slapped on Rana, barring him from leaving Bangladesh. Orders have also been given so that he is unable to flee, Alamgir added.
Talking to The Independent, senior police officials claimed that they had already launched a massive manhunt, to arrest those responsible for the Rana Plaza tragedy, that claimed 326 lives and injured 400.
Dhaka district police superintendent Mohammad Habibur Rahman told The Independent, “Soon after the incident, and after directions were issued by High Court and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, several special squads, comprising personnel from Detective Branch of the police (DB), Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Special Branch (SB), and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), have been continuously carrying out raids to nab the responsible.”
“As we are making our best efforts to arrest the suspects. We have already detained eight relatives of prime suspect Sohel Rana, and arrested two garments units’ owners and two engineers,” Rahman added.
ATM Habibur Rahman, the legal and media wing director of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), told The Independent, “RAB personnel always provide all types of support to local law enforcers, to curb crime. Similarly, we have also been conducting drives to nab those responsible for the Rana Plaza incident.”
As per available information, Rana was very close to local Awami League lawmaker, Touhid Jong Murad, widely known as Murad Jong.
Rana was a general-secretary of Savar Poura Chhatra League, a post he got in 1998. Though his education is only up to Class VIII, he held that post for a long time. Later, Rana was nominated as the joint convener of Savar Poura Jubo League, as he had the blessings of Murad Jong.
Though the lawmaker denied his intimacy with Rana, a large number of old posters and festoons can be seen throughout Savar area, where Rana and Murad Jong’s photos are printed next to each other. Rana is mentioned in the posters as the joint convener of Savar Poura Jubo League.
Several Awami League leaders, on conditions of anonymity, said Rana organised and led all anti-hartal rallies and processions, under the leadership of Murad Jong, in Savar area. He was also preparing to organise an anti-hartal procession, on the day of the collapse.
Regarding Rana’s political career, an influential Awami League leader said he was not a politician. Rana served as a cadre of Murad Jong, who, like many others, inducted him to the party post, in exchange of money.
According to information, Rana is the son of Abdul Khaleque, a resident of Singair upazila under Manikganj district.

Courtesy of The Independent

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